


and we went dancing

by FlowerButton



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerButton/pseuds/FlowerButton
Summary: 6 + 1 times James and Lily danced





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am unsure about this one and I need validation on it. I wrote it like 3 days ago when I had had very little sleep so any mistakes, please tell!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Warning: it says character death but no explicit death scenes occur, please don't be worried

1.

 

It was his first year at Hogwarts and James wasn’t nervous. He wasn’t! If his stomach was flipping about, it was from excitement, not fear - he wasn’t scared. Not of leaving home for the first time, not of what the other kids thought, and especially not of whatever house he was going to be sorted into. His father and mother were both Gryffindors, as his father’s relatives had been for years, and he knew they wouldn’t care less if he was sorted elsewhere but he had the rest of the Potters to consider too.

 

That was why, as he first stepped through the doors of the Great Hall, he was determined to be put into Gryffindor. A boy beside him was shaking and he took care to nudge him softly and smile supportively, which the boy was startled by but returned. He would find out the name of this boy soon, he supposed, as they stopped at the top of the tables. In front of the group was the hat, sat stoutly on its stool, and his eyes stared defensively at it as he prepared for a fight.

 

It wasn’t alphabetical - far from it. Stephen Smith was put up first, landing firmly in Hufflepuff, as the children surrounding them clapped. Six minutes later and it was James’ turn.

 

He walked quickly, definite in his steps, and sat purposefully on the stool.

 

‘Hello,’ he said to the hat inside his head. ‘I don’t mean to bother you but I want to be in Gryffindor.’

 

‘You know,’ the hat replied in a satisfied murmur, ‘that does seem like the best place for you. You will do great things, Mr Potter - I can feel it.’

 

‘Thank you,’ James said as the hat shouted, ‘GRYFFINDOR.’

 

He knew he was going there but to hear the words made his heart soar. As soon as the Professor - McGonagall, he later recalled - took the hat from his head, he leapt from the seat and grabbed the nearest student to him, spinning her around in a haphazard jig. She laughed and he spun away as a chorus of students whistled and cheered.

 

She sat across from him at the meal and he learnt her name was Lily Evans and, from that point on, James decided he would dance with her again.

 

 

2.

 

“Yes!” Sirius exclaimed as he hurtled into the common room. It was the Christmas holidays of Fourth Year and all four of the Marauders were staying behind to keep Peter company, whose parents had flown off to Australia for the two weeks to visit his grandmother. This was a source of annoyance for Lily, who had thought she’d get more work done at Hogwarts. She supposed the joke was on her.

 

“Black!” she snapped from the corner, her hair sticking to her face with stress. “Shut up!”

 

“No can do, Lilypad,” Sirius teased, slipping over to lean on her table. He almost knocked the ink onto her essay and she squeaked, grabbing her parchment quickly and folding it.

 

“And why’s that?”

 

“I have it working!”

 

“Have you?” Remus asked as he and James stepped through the portrait hole. Lily raised an eyebrow at their interrupted conversation, half a mind to demand they butt out, but then Peter came in talking to Marlene McKinnon, looking over as soon as Sirius began talking again.

 

“That I have, my good Marauders! The spells we found, Remy-poo, worked a treat!”

 

“What spells?” Lily wondered. “And the best nickname you can come up with for Remus is ‘Remy-poo’?”

 

“I’ve had worse,” Remus sighed dramatically, moving across the room to sit across from her. “James got Sirius as radio for Christmas - a radio that tunes into Muggle stations,” he added when Lily looked curious. “It uses electricity so we’ve been trying to get it to work for about three days.”

 

“And now, my wonderful Lilypad, it does!” Sirius exclaimed. “And, since I doubt the ickle Firsties will be back before dinner, how would you like to be one of the first to hear its wonderful melodies?”

 

“For proof that you listened in Charms, Black, I would cross the Atlantic,” Lily replied with a smirk. Sirius clutched his chest and winked before stampeding upstairs to grab the small box. James caught Lily’s eye and shrugged with a smile. She tried not to think too much of the way her hands became clammy, putting it out of her mind as soon as Sirius reappeared

 

“Behold!” he cried, practically slamming the radio onto Lily’s desk. “Radio Clyde.”

 

And true to his word, as soon as the switch turned, there was the sound a man with a vague Glaswegian accent talking about something or other. Lily clapped admirably as Sirius gestured around the common room. James and Peter stepped over to them now, with Marlene hurrying beside them, and the six of them huddled around the small radio for a good few minutes.

 

“But,” Sirius said suddenly, “that’s not all.” He moved the switch and seconds later, Elvis was playing.

 

“This - Sirius, this is pirate radio!” Marlene exclaimed excitedly. “This is illegal!”

 

“I’m pretty sure no one is going to find out,” James said. “Though I do love a bit of Elvis. Turn it up, eh, Sirius?”

 

He moved back and started jutting out his hips in time to the rhythm as Sirius cranked up the volume. With a smile, Peter took Marlene’s hand and the two of them followed James’ lead, whipping around the common room in a weird imitation what Lily supposed was a waltz. Remus idly clapped his hands in time to the beat as Sirius sang along, off-key and way too loud.

 

“Dance with us, Lily!” Marlene shouted over Sirius’ voice.

 

“Come on, Evans!” James encouraged and, with a sigh, Lily placed her parchment on the table, rising to join him in the centre of the room. His face was pale with sweat and he shrugged off his jumper as the song changed. She felt suddenly self-conscious and forced her hands to sway as she made her way towards him, nervous that if she didn’t, they’d reach for her hair.

 

“Can you even dance with a partner?” she asked him as they began to swing one another, hands clammy and touching and Lily was unsure as to why she hadn’t done this before.

 

“Why don’t you find out?” James replied cheekily. Lily felt her face flush, but whether that was from dancing or from him, she didn’t know. Whatever it was, James’ face was just as red and she took comfort in that as they stepped in time to the beats of the Beatles and Rod Stewart.

 

Lily felt her heart flutter when James stepped away and bowed and she cursed herself for her schoolgirl crush.

 

 

3.

 

Two weeks after her argument with Severus found Lily sobbing at one in the morning on the sofa of the common room. Her mother had sent her mail, telling her about her sister’s new boyfriend, and Lily was desperate to tell someone how happy her home life was but since Severus had…

 

She didn’t regret doing it. He’d hurt her, several times before, and she’d always given second chances. Her father teased her about being soft, and Marlene and Dorcas often agreed, but neither of them seemed to think it should hurt her to lose one of her closest friends.

 

“Be glad to be rid of the bastard,” Marlene had said over breakfast the next morning when Severus had hexed a Ravenclaw boy for sitting next to a Slytherin in his same year. The boy had fled tearfully and the Slytherin had been forced in between two of the older boys to stop it happening again. Lily, like the rest of Slytherin house, was fuming and Marlene had calmed her by cursing the croissants to hit Severus in the face each time he moved his hand.

 

“He’s not been good for you, Lils,” Dorcas told her softly in Potions when a Slytherin had cursed another girl’s potion to explode whenever she touched the side of the cauldron. Severus had laughed and Lily’s lip had wobbled. “Chin up, eh, chick?”

 

“Chin up,” she’d replied but it had felt false and now she was coping by sneaking down into the common room ten weeks before her first exam to cry about a boy she wasn’t even in love with.

 

It wasn’t fair.

 

“Evans?” a voice wondered as she blew her nose for the sixth time in ten minutes. Blearily, she turned around and saw James stood there. His hair was ten times the messiness it usually was and his glasses were askew but his expression was clear in its concern.

 

“What do you want, Potter?” she asked through hiccups of tears. It took her a while and, in that time, he moved to sit next to her on the sofa.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“What does it look like to you?” she demanded. “Do I look okay?”

 

“You don’t,” James said honestly. “If this is about the exploding quill from earlier, I’m sorry - I can get Peter to apologise too -”

 

“It’s not about the quill,” Lily said. James pulled his knees up so he was leant on the arm of the sofa, legs crossed in front of him, mirroring Lily’s own posture. He fiddled with an unused tissue that sat beside his hands.

 

“Do you want to talk about it? Mum says talking through your problems makes them better. Sirius agrees and even though Remus says it’s a load of old tosh, I think he likes talking too.”

 

“No,” Lily replied. She paused. “It depends. You can’t laugh at me.”

 

“Scout’s honour,” James said immediately, forming a weird symbol with his hand. Lily chuckled and corrected it. “Wait, Remus said it was like that!”

 

“Remus is a liar,” she teased.

 

“Blasphemy!” James accused, snorting when Lily laughed. “I’ll have you know Remus is a truther and has been since birth!”

 

“I’ll be sure to tell McGonagall that for the next time you lot get into trouble,” she said with a smile. James nodded, fake seriously.

 

“Please do. Darling Minnie keeps accusing us of all those atrocious pranks on the Slytherins, even though we swear we’re innocent!”

 

“Do you Scout’s honour for that?” Lily asked.

 

James scoffed.

 

“Please,” he said. “We’re innocent, but not that innocent.”

 

Lily laughed and flushed brightly, half-forgetting why she was upset in the first place. Then it hit her again, like a sack of potatoes, and she toppled in on herself. James flapped his hands and placed them on her shoulders as another set of tears wracked through her body. Moving slowly, she nudged her way into his arms, using his pyjama shirt to collect her tears as he began to rock slowly back and forth as if calming a child.

 

She pushed away the idea that he’d be a good father.

 

“Hey now,” he said softly. “Talk to me.”

 

“I miss him,” she said quietly as the sobs died down. “I shouldn’t and I don’t regret it but I miss him a lot.”

 

“Is this Sniv- Severus?” Lily nodded and James hummed. “I’m assuming that the girls have told you that you’re better off without him?” Again, Lily nodded. “But it still hurts.”

 

“Yes,” she croaked. “I haven’t forgiven you, by the way,” she added as an afterthought, and James hummed into her hair.

 

“I didn’t think you would have,” he said. “You’re allowed to not forgive me but can I still cheer you up?”

 

“You won’t mention this to anyone?” Lily asked, doubtfully, and James shook his head.

 

“I can keep a secret, Lily,” he promised quietly and she thought about it. On the one hand, this was James Potter - the boy who had irritated her, fought with her, and teased her once-best friend relentlessly. On the other hand, this was James Potter - kind towards the First Years, defender of the school’s bullied teens, and accepting of nearly everyone.

 

“I trust you,” she said finally and James pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her waist as she buried her head into his shoulder. Her arms slipped around his neck and he began to hum, swaying her from side to side.

 

“My mum,” he said after a moment, “is a really smart woman. And she calmed me down when I was sad by singing songs that I knew and that made me happy. She always said, ‘You’re allowed to feel things, Jamie’ - my mum calls me Jamie - ‘and you should never stop yourself from that.’ So even if he is a jerk and even if you have every right not to forgive me, you’re still allowed to be upset about it.” He paused. “‘Cept I can’t sing so you’re going to have to make do with humming.”

 

Lily smiled into the crook of his neck as he picked up where he left off, humming another Elvis song that she wasn’t even sure he knew the name of.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered. It wasn’t much of a schoolgirl crush anymore.

 

 

4.

 

James was hopeless at Potions. He’d learnt this two months into First Year when his cauldron had exploded halfway through a colour-changing potion. Sirius, his partner, had laughed and he’d threatened to pour the liquid over his head, but the fact remained that James was awful at Potions. It didn’t make sense! His grandfather had concocted the best hair gel this side of Europe and it had sold for a Galleon a piece. And his father was a certified Healer, even if that wasn’t his profession, so it made very little sense for James to be so awful at Potions.

 

Lily Evans, however, was incredible and Remus often told James that if he spent half as much time studying for his Potions exams as he did watching Lily work then he’d get an O in his NEWT. James then asked why he himself was taking Potions as a NEWT in the first place, to which Remus had shrugged.

 

“Same reason I am,” he supposed. “Divination seemed too easy.”

 

Which was true, but James was already taking four NEWTs and he hardly needed Potions in his desire to be a Muggle teacher. But he’d had an inkling, as he was wont to have, and so had entered Slughorn’s class on the first day back with a smile on his face and a notebook in his hand. Slughorn had been surprised but at least he had smiled. Lily hadn’t noticed.

 

Except she had. Because James caught her staring at him as he tried to answer the questions on the board and he spent the next twenty minutes asking himself what it meant. And then class was over and Remus was asking him if he’d made notes and of course he hadn’t but that wasn’t important, what was important was _Lily Evans was watching him, Remus, stop laughing and tell him what it meant._

 

Remus didn’t stop laughing. Remus kept laughing as they went for lunch and, when he told Peter, Peter started laughing too. In fact, only Sirius wasn’t laughing but that’s because he was teasing James with kissy sounds.

 

This continued for an entire term until it was two days away from their Christmas Potions assessment and James was freaking out. He’d made exactly seven pages of notes in thirteen weeks and none of it was relevant to Amortentia, which was what the assessment was reportedly on. Remus, who was stressed enough with both Potions and Muggle Studies, was far too busy to sit down and explain them to James, who wouldn’t ask it of him anyway. Sirius and Peter were useless since neither had taken Potions and so James had no one left to go to.

 

Well. His last hope would never help him. She’d use her pretty green eyes to glare him down and then her long ginger hair to flick him away as if he were a fly and then she’d laugh in a beautiful way as she told him to piss off.

 

“You’re stressed,” Lily said as she sat down next to him and suddenly James was finding it difficult to breathe. “Is this Potions?”

 

“Yes,” he said and wow, was it hot in here, because it felt hot and James needed to leave like, ten minutes ago. “I don’t understand Amortentia.”

 

_Shut up, James._

 

“Do you need help?” Lily asked him.

 

_No._

 

“Yes,” James replied. _Shit._ “If that’s okay with you? I can piss off like a fly if you want.”

 

_Shut up, James._

 

“I’m offering, you great toerag,” Lily teased, leaning over to him and opening his Potions book. “It’d help if you were on the right page!”

 

She smelt of candy canes and chocolate biscuits and warm things. James was sure he was dreaming.

 

“Well,” she said, “you know that Amortentia is a love potion. And you know that it’s illegal to brew without a teacher’s supervision.” She levelled her eyes to his and James’ heart practically stopped as he stared back. “You do know that, right?”

 

“Absolutely,” he said. “Illegal for good reason.”

 

“So no mucking about with them,” she added, and he nodded firmly. As if he was that ridiculous.

 

He was but not in that way.

 

“Scout’s honour,” he said, and Lily smiled. At him. With him. Who cared? Lily smiled and James felt tiny explosions going off in the middle of his mind. _Lily Evans had smiled at him, someone call the Prophet, tell the world!_

 

“I trust you,” she said. “Now, what does Amortentia smell like?”

 

“Love?” James tried. Lily thought for a moment, humming.

 

“Technically,” she said. “You wouldn’t get marks for it in an exam but yes. It smells of the person you love the most.”

 

“What does yours smell like?” James asked suddenly. Shit. No. “You don’t have to answer that.”

 

“Grass,” she said. “Muddy grass and hot chocolate.” She paused. “Do you remember what you smelt when we made it two weeks ago?”

 

James didn’t but he had a pretty good idea.

 

“Candy canes,” he said. “And chocolate biscuits. Warm things.”

 

Lily smiled. “See? You’ll ace this assessment in no time.”

 

And when she was right and James threw his arms around her and spun her round and round and round the classroom, she didn’t complain and instead laughed and laughed and laughed and James would fail a thousand assessments, a million assessments, if she laughed like that every day for him.

 

 

5.

 

Their first day of Seventh Year was when James asked for her heart. Lily laughed and told him that he already had it.

 

Their first date was on the first Hogsmeade weekend, where James asked if she wanted something to drink and they bonded over a shared hatred of Madame Puddifoot's whilst drinking Butterbears in the Hog’s Head and laughing when Lily showed how she could snort it out of her nose.

 

Their first kiss was on the top of the Astronomy Tower and it was messy and unplanned but it was perfect all the same. James pushed like she would disappear any minute and Lily used too much tongue but they knew that this would disappear in time and they knew they had plenty of it.

 

Their first dance came later in the year, after traded kisses and laughs and hugs and fights and smiles. Their first dance came after Gryffindor lost the Quidditch Cup and threw a party anyway, all cheering for their team.

 

“At least we beat Slytherin!” Sirius called out and a chant began, ricocheting off the walls as everyone bellowed, ‘We beat Slytherin!’

 

“Ravenclaw deserved the title,” James said to Lily as he brought her a bottle of Butterbeer. She took it and smiled gratefully. “Their Seeker was a quick one, I’ll give her that. How’d they even find a Seeker that quick?”

 

“That’s the position with the Golden Snitch, isn’t it?” Lily teased, and James prodded her side gently.

 

“Oi you,” he said. “Bet you any kid of mine will be a Seeker so watch your tongue.”

 

“Ours,” Lily said suddenly, and James flushed. “Any kid of ours.”

 

“You’d want my kid?”

 

“Well,” Lily hummed, “only if they had your ridiculous hair.”

 

“I’m sure,” James said, “that that would be genetically possible. Though brushing it would be a pain.”

 

“You could do that,” Lily said. “You’ve got the practice.”

 

“And I suppose I’d cook as well?”

 

“You are better,” Lily agreed with a dry smile. James pressed his forehead to hers and she smiled.

 

“What would you do? If we had a kid?”

 

“I’d change their nappy,” she said. “Play with them. Teach them the alphabet and numbers. Take them to all your Quidditch games.”

 

“You’d make sure to cheer extra loud for me?” James asked, brushing his lips across her nose. “Point to me and tell them who their dad is?”

 

“You’d have to teach them to fly,” Lily told him. “They’ll want to fly as soon as they’re able, if they’re your kid.”

 

“And you’ll have to show them everything Muggle,” James said. “Books and radio and music and those boxes with the moving pictures.”

 

“Televisions,” Lily corrected. “And then we could show them the wizarding world together. Take them to get their first wand at eleven in Ollivander’s. Let them run up the steps of Gringotts and marvel at the dragon on top.”

 

“Send them off to Hogwarts with all the candy they could ever want,” James said. “Write them Owls about our day and hear about theirs.”

 

“Love them so much,” Lily finished. “Just like I love you.”

 

“And I love you,” James replied.

 

Their arms had slipped around each other’s bodies and they were sashaying to the music, out of beat but full of love. A child would probably never happen, because of the war, because of what was happening outside their circle of dreams, but they could hope and pray and _love_ and maybe it would all come true.

 

 

6.

 

Their wedding was not traditional. Their parents weren't well enough for a flashy-do and with the war ever-present, James and Lily vowed for it to be brief and simple. They could have a bigger thing once everything was over.

 

Sirius was best man and Marlene was maid of honour. Lily’s dress was green and shorter than average but white never suited her anyway. It was winter and James wore ridiculous robes that Sirius had lent him and Peter sang off-key to ABBA and Remus made the lopsided cake and Dorcas made the flower arrangement and even if she tripped on her way down the aisle and James forgot his vows, it was the happiest day of Lily’s life.

 

Their reception was in the Leaky Cauldron and their parents had bid them goodbye before they went inside. The regulars all joined in the cheer and Marlene bought the drinks as Sirius played the music for their first dance as a married couple.

 

“You haven’t improved,” Lily teased as they swayed between the tables. Tuneless singing from drunken people could be heard behind them but neither really cared, too fixated on the other to mind. “You’re still as awful as that day in fourth year.”

 

“At least I’m not humming this time,” James added and she laughed into his shoulder. “I love you,” he said and it had been said on repeat for the entire day but Lily’s stomach still floated high and she still beamed.

 

“I love you too,” she told him as they twirled. “He’ll love you too.”

 

“And I’ll love him,” James said, moving a hand to Lily’s stomach and they pressed their foreheads together.

 

They danced long into the night and Christmas Eve of 1979 ended with them laughing wildly as Peter was whisked across the dance floor by Sirius.

 

 

+1

 

He heard the song before she did and turned up the radio as she picked up Harry’s toys from the day’s play.

 

“I can’t sing,” he said, moving behind her to place his arms around her, “but I can hum.”

 

“Please,” she said with a smile, leaning back in his arms and dropping a small cuddly rat into Harry’s playbox, “I’d much rather hear the singer.”

 

“Suit yourself,” he replied, kissing her head as they swayed. She turned around in his arms and he dropped his forehead to hers, smiling when she laughed. “You look beautiful.”

 

“I know,” she said. “You’re very charming.”

 

“I know. Have you sent Sirius a letter?”

 

“Not yet. It’s sat on my bedside cabinet. I’ll finish it in the morning.”

 

“He’ll be overjoyed. Pete said it wasn’t long until he and Remus could visit. We’ll get them all to teach Harry how to prank us, eh? Excite our lives?”

 

“I’m excited at the prospect of a lay-in tomorrow, since you’ve got morning duty,” she told him with a smile.

 

“I’ll get him to wake you up just before seven, you wait,” he said.

 

“I’d like to see you -”

 

There was a knock at the door.

 

“Peter isn’t supposed to be round for another two days,” Lily said, frowning. James paused and pulled his wife towards the door, the stairway leering behind them. The music continued in the other room but the tension was far too high to dance.

 

“Head to Harry,” James said quietly.

 

Another knock.

 

“James,” Lily whispered.

 

Bang. Bang. Bang.

 

_“Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off!”_

 

-

He took Harry from the cot and when he travelled downstairs, Hagrid turned the radio’s static off.

**Author's Note:**

> So... I have a [tumblr!](https://the-grape-bowl.tumblr.com) if you want to drop by and say hello!


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